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The FBI confirmed Sony Corp (ADR) was the victim of North Korean hacking
It's official: Sony Corp (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) was hacked by North Korea. The FBI earlier confirmed the culprits behind the cyberattack, which was motivated by a desire to derail Sony Pictures Entertainment's movie, "The Interview," and President Barack Obama is expected to make a statement soon. Meanwhile, put traders are flocking to the equity's options pits, with the contracts crossing at nearly double the usual intraday rate.
Taking a quick step back, SNE is off 2.8% this afternoon to hover around $20.55. Option bears are rolling the dice on extended losses, buying to open the July 20 put -- the stock's most active strike. In so doing, these traders are merely reflecting the broader skepticism present in the options pits. Specifically, SNE's 10-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) put/call volume ratio of 6.45 ranks at the top of its annual range, suggesting speculators have never favored long puts over calls more strongly in the last year.
Turning to the charts, despite Sony Corp's (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) intraday retreat, the shares are still sitting on a year-to-date lead of nearly 19%. What's more, today's losses are being contained by the security's 10-day moving average.